Saturday, October 28, 2006

Eight Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs

Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur?

1. Seizing opportunities. Have a knack for spotting and grabbing opportunities that nobody else seems to notice? In the early days of the Internet, many people talked about starting an on-line auction house. Pierre Omidyar and his collaborators organized a business plan that created eBay.

2. Running your own show. If you've had a lifelong, overwhelming desire to be in charge, you're probably already an entrepreneur. If job insecurity and workplace frustrations are driving you to be your own boss, you might be an entrepreneur in the making.

3. Innovative behavior since childhood. Shoveling the neighbors driveways when you were a kid doesn't count. Hiring your buddies to shovel the driveways and taking a cut of the proceeds does.

4. Turning on a dime. While many people are intimidated by the unpredictability of the marketplace, you spot angles in every messy situation and can shift direction in a heartbeat - without calling a meeting or hiring a focus group.

5. Tenacity. Don't like rejection? Hate it when a bank says no to your loan request? Don't quit your day job.

6. Self-confidence bordering on delusions of grandeur. Many entrepreneurs expect their startups will someday ascend to the Fortune 500. Don't scoff. One person's wishful thinking is an entrepreneur's self-fulfilling prophecy.

7. Pragmatism. Can you stick to the game plan and resist impulse? While everybody thinks entrepreneurs are big risk takers, they are pragmatic risk takers: very disciplined, very calculated.

8. A knack for "failing upward." Fumbles, setbacks even fiascos can be seen as opportunities.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Start A Home Business - Work From Home Part Time or Full Time

Many entrepreneurs start a home business on a part-time basis while raising children or working a full time job. Others may have so many responsibilities and obligations already that they can only give five hours a week to the business.

Others start full-time home based businesses when family and finances allow. Still others, driven by their goal to turn their home based business into a multi-million dollar corporation, spend every waking hour into making it grow.

Before starting a home business, figure out how many hours per week can be devoted to the business. Take a realistic look at current living conditions such as outside employment, family obligations and the amount of spare time that can be dedicated to the new enterprise. Make a weekly chart of activities, examine it, and determine where the business fits.

Part time involvement in an internet business venture is the less risky way to proceed, particularly for a first time entrepreneur. These are the advantages to starting an internet business from home:

• Provides supplementary income;

• Minimizes the risk involved in starting a business by decreasing the amount of time and money spent on the venture;

• Allows the business to grow gradually, in proportion to the demand for your product(s) or service(s);

• Offers an easier transition out of a current employment and into a full time home based business.

Starting a part time internet business allows complete control over the various aspects of the business, such as structure, personnel, advertising, production and regulating the amount of time spent operating the business. Do not attempt to run a full time business in addition to holding a full time job as it can leave little or no time for a personal life.

A part time home based internet business also allows the entrepreneur to get started with less money, therefore less pressure to immediately reach profitability. The income earned from a full time job provides a financial cushion to operate the household and support the business venture.

A common misconception is that entrepreneurs leverage their livelihood by starting their own businesses. Home based businesses are helping to change that. By working part time from home, the entrepreneur can create new opportunities without having to sacrifice anything in the process.

While running a home based business on a part time basis has its attractive features, it also has its disadvantages:

• Professionalism is sometimes compromised, as owners of part time businesses are not taken seriously by suppliers, potential investors, and prospective customers;

• Slower growth;

• Difficult to maintain part time status;

• Many home based part time business owners experience burnout and begin to neglect their businesses.

Even when they start part time, many home based entrepreneurs find it difficult to maintain that status. Most are goal driven individuals who expect results and are prodded by a belief that there is always more to be done. An important drawback is the perception of some people – potential customers, suppliers, among others – that home based operations (especially part time operations) are not as competent as their commercial counterparts.

Full Time Opportunities

It is difficult to say whether any business is ever really part time. Most part time entrepreneurs (especially those who are home based) spend a lot of time thinking about their businesses – planning marketing strategies, practicing sales pitches, coming up with ways to streamline operations – even when they’re not actually working in the home office. For obvious reasons, many owners of thriving part time businesses eventually shift to full time status.

Limiting the amount of time spent at a home based business gives the business owner the flexibility and freedom to work when they want and slowly grow accustomed to being a business owner. Ultimately, though, it also reduces opportunities for expansion. Some of America’s most well known companies started as an entrepreneur’s part time dream, but they didn’t stay that way for long.

Like part time operations, full time home based businesses have their share of benefits and drawbacks. Some entrepreneurs prefer starting home based businesses full time because:

• Greater time commitment allows more time to develop business ideas;

• Motivating factors include personal freedom, recognition, money;

• Opportunity exists for more rapid growth;

• A greater sense of professionalism develops;

• Fewer distractions, such as other jobs.

The more that is invested in a particular pursuit, the more important the outcome becomes. Entrepreneurs who operate their businesses full time, whether from start up or three years after starting part time, will invariably care more about their businesses well being because they have put more time, effort and money into it. If a full time schedule will help the business keep pace with an increase in demand for the product(s) or service(s), the result will be a jump in revenues (provided costs remain comparatively equal).

It is generally easier for businesses headquartered in commercial offices to convince potential customers and clients of their professionalism. Similarly, it is easier for a full time home based business owner to convey professionalism.

Starting a venture on a full time basis does have some disadvantages, including:

• Greater risk;

• Loss of second income;

• Higher start up costs.

Although the risks of a full time operation are greater compared to those of a part time operation, they are countered by the offer of unlimited growth opportunity and financial gain. The cost of starting up at full capacity, whether you are product or service based, is more substantial than if you start part time. Likewise, the potential rewards are more substantial.

View these press releases for additional information:

Start A Home Business

Home Based Part Time Internet business

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Make Money Online Using eBay

Describing eBay as a commerce website is like saying Elvis was a singer. The 11-year-old company that began as a virtual flea market has become an international phenomenon.

Many people using eBay’s services are making money online. While the auction service is eBay’s signature sales venue, it is only a fraction of the revenue opportunities available to marketers or business internet start-up opportunities. Publishers are leveraging the site’s considerable traffic to complement or as a portal to their own websites.

The same strategies used to attract consumers on the greater Web, including search marketing, optimization and email advertising, can be used to capture traffic within the eBay universe.

Maintaining an eBay Store not only provides the possibility of selling items for fixed prices, it also enables work at home sellers to advertise to eBay’s massive audience. Most internet business startups have a small advertising budget. By utilizing eBay’s services, work at home business owners can market to millions of users.

This information is also contained in a news release.

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Part Time Internet Business For Stay At Home Moms

Starting a part time internet business is one of the fastest and smartest ways women today can make money. Here are several reasons for starting an internet business.

1. Money. Whether it’s to get out of debt, build a retirement, or just simply to make ends meet. With the right guidance, an internet business can start generating income almost immediately for the stay at home mom.

2. Family. Moms want to be home with their kids. A work at home job is great for just that reason unless the work at home job requires leaving home for appointments, parties, or sales calls. Then the work at home mom is right back to babysitters and being away from their family. A part time internet business truly lets moms work from home.

3. Self Esteem. Many women are so busy being Moms, and wives, and community members, they forget to create something in their lives that reflects their inner selves. Starting (and becoming successful) in a home based business can boost feelings of self worth, and that makes everyone a winner!

4. Community. A home based business provides good role modeling for our children, provides tax base for necessary programs such as police and fire, and a community where people exhibit pride and hard work is a better place to live.

5. Tax Benefits. Most women who start a business at home are going to be able to take large tax deductions for their home business. Less taxes means more money for the stay at home moms, and that’s a good thing!

6. Work at Home Household Savings. Working at home means no expensive wardrobes. The average professional suit for a woman can cost over $150! Can you imagine NOT having to buy expensive work clothes anymore, and how much money a year can be saved for the family budget? Also, a work at home mom does not buy expensive convenience foods and restaurant take out.

7. Flexibility. Working from home allows moms to arrange their schedule to be available when a child is home sick or heartbroken, for a field trip at school, or to just take a mental health day once in awhile and sit at a park and read. How many bosses would give their employees the day off to read?

8. Being in charge of your own business means you are no longer at the mercy of layoffs. Don’t get me wrong, a home business can crash too…but at least YOU hold the reins and make the decisions, not someone else.

9. You determine how much you work, and how much you make. No more being paid less than you are worth, no more begging for a raise. If you educate yourself right, you can pretty much combine hard work and persistence to equal unlimited income.

Do not start a business to please someone else. There is so much pressure on women today to do it all…many times we feel we are not successful unless we make a lot of money, are perfect moms, never gain a pound…you get the idea. Start a business for you, and your dreams, not to convince the world, or the mother in law, or your next door neighbor…that you can do it all. Running a business is not for everyone, but if you want to follow your dreams, work at home, and make a good income, starting a part time internet business is a great place to start.

Press Release

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Work At Home Press Release

Work at home marketing tools - read the latest press release on the Predator Marketing system Press Release

For more work at home tips and strategies, visit 21st Century Online Marketing.